How you afford private school fees?

[notsurehowtodothis]

This isn't intended to be a state vs. private school debate. We are just looking at all the options locally for our two DCs including both state and private schooling and, as our local private schools are in the region of £15-18k per child per year, I just wondered for those of you who pay for private schooling, especially for more than one child, how you find it (as in, what's it like, not 'where' you find it!) making such significant payments each year? And if you've found any great ways to make the payments easier? DH and I only have three viable kidneys between us so options there are limited.....

Bertrand-the OP specifically said she didn't want this to be a state vs private school thread. Please go and grind your axe somewhere else.

I only posted once I read all the dismissive things about state schools. Then I just assumed it was open to anyone to express an opinion.

Ignore, ignore

"We paid 40%. On our joint income of over £350k"

We have just moved house and there are no places available in the local school so I've been in contact with the local private school as I have heard they offer bursaries. However our income is only just above £20k so we would need a full bursary. I don't know if this reassures me that we will "pass" the means testing or if it means I'll get laughed out of the building?

I think bursaries and scholarships are different to each school, basically they can make whatever rules they want.

There s no harm in asking if its something you want to explore. That said even with a full bursary for fees you may find the other costs far more than a state school and youd find it difficult on £20k.

In zgeneral, bursaries are means tested and scholarships aren't. There are very few of either that are100%.

At our school we have bursaries, scholarships and prizes.

bursaries are means tested reduction on fees from 5%-100%.
scholarships are honorary, and provide additional tuition, subject specific lessons
prizes are similar to scholarships, but are more for arts and provide equipment mostly, but they will be part of scholar productions/galleries etc

so you can be a scholar prize holder with a bursary!

all of them are reviewed and applied for annually (unless special permission to hold the B/S/P for more than one year)

www.tatler.com/news/articles/august-2016/school-bursaries-guide-2016

Of course you can, scholarships are up to 50% but that's unusual unless combined. The dispute is that I do not believe that someone on £350k got a bursary. Especially not when they say that after a 60% reduction, they are still paying 2.5k a month .

I must be really unusual as I have two family friends on 100% bursary at Tonbridge and Sevenoaks and family on 90% at ibstock place.

My dd2 scholarship was never reviewed annually.

Anyway, the tatler article is a bit more accurate than my guesswork. 25% of new dulwich boys will be on 75-100% fee remission for example.

Ours only gave bursary to scholars. There was no annual reassessment. Absolutely got a bursary and dual scholarship that left us 40% to find. There are very few lower earning parents with children at major public schools but lots of clever accounting.

Should add fees were only payable over 10 months of year. Costs include additional expenses, in fairness, not just fees. It's what we spent as opposed to fees.

That's outright fraud then. Lots of schools are using companies specifically set up to do proper assessments for bursaries.

Wellington

Scholarships do not, in themselves, provide any fee reduction, although music scholarships afford parents free tuition in two instruments and free composition and Alexander Technique lessons. Please visit the page on Bursaries to read more about the financial aid available at Wellington College.

There are two more bursary funds which are not dependent on winning a scholarship.

Just be aware it is more than you think it is once its start and invoices start arriving relentlessly every term. In particular the Summer one comes around very quickly. Also of course the extra can pile up rapidly if studying instruments, going on trips etc. We currently pay monthly at one school (10 payments per year) and it is much easier than paying in big blobs.

We're very lucky. My father left money for our child's education in his will.
This has allowed him to attend private school for his whole education.

We earn reasonable money and just about manage to pay all the extras. And there are a lot of extras!

We have two at £12k pa school. Only 2/3 moderate/short UK holidays a year, no flash cars. A bigger than average house but not huge or plush.

However we can only afford it because we own our own business and so enjoy the (marginal) tax benefits. Our net joint income is £86k p.a. (after the business pays a few £000 a month in to our pensions).

Our friends who do the same but with more expensive holidays and huge houses seem to be dr consultants x 2, lawyers x 2 or generational land owners.

I don't think it's fraud unless someone is telling lies. How a school interprets their means testing is up to them. I know a good number of families who were probably better off than us who didnt pay full fees. It's not a level playing field, certainly. Lots of possible ways to reduce costs.

Crumbs, if you have a 350k income and you are getting a bursary then something is very wrong. Luckily, i don't believe it. In fact, I am hoping that someone from Wellington will see this and comment.

"What has allowed us to do it and what 'choices' have they made which means they haven't got the cash for it?"

Of course there are thousands of parents who could afford private education whose children are in state schools. Many who could just pay outright without the whole cars / holiday thing. So: state education is, with good reason, a valid educational choice irrespective of income.

For those in the marginal position wrt affording it You write as if they could afford it if only they hadn't chosen big houses / cars / hols. Maybe it is the other way around; they have more disposable income as a happy by product of having chosen a state school.

It's a nuance, but it is easy for people to get caught up in a struggle to stretch finances believing that private is the thing to aspire to if possible,

Its simple really. For example if fees total £37,000 pa (for two) then that is what you have to be able to pay during the school years regardless of how you do it. It all boils down to the Micawber principle.

Lots of people do "plan" their income very carefully. Not unusual for company directors to have very large pension payments being made by their company whilst they take an NI efficient £8060 salary and £34kish dividends to remain a basic rate tax payer.

They also trickle out dividends whilst taking large directors' loans. Again its perfectly legitimate and tax efficient but means that actual "income" is low on paper.